hiking in shoulder season and snow

Snow can sit on North Shore trails above roughly the ski-area elevations from late fall well into spring, and on Sea-to-Sky alpine routes into July. A trail that is easy in August can be dangerous in May.

what changes

• Trails disappear under snow, and fog makes route-finding hard.
• Snow slopes and gullies can be avalanche terrain. Check Avalanche Canada.
• Days are short. Carry a headlamp.
• Microspikes help on ice but do not make steep snow safe.

lower options

• Quarry Rock (North Shore, easy)
• Lynn Loop (North Shore, easy)
• Lynn Canyon & 30 Foot Pool (North Shore, easy)
• Rice Lake Loop (North Shore, easy)
• Capilano Canyon & Cleveland Dam (North Shore, easy)
• Cypress Falls (North Shore, easy)
• Whyte Lake (North Shore, moderate)
• Lighthouse Park (North Shore, easy)
• Stanley Park Seawall (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Pacific Spirit Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Mountain Trails (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Coquitlam Crunch (Metro Vancouver, moderate)
• Buntzen Lake Loop (Metro Vancouver, moderate)
• Jug Island Beach (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Minnekhada Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Lower Falls (Golden Ears) (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Teapot Hill (Fraser Valley, moderate)
• Bridal Veil Falls (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Hayward Lake Railway Trail (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Killarney Lake (Bowen Island) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Admiralty Point (Belcarra) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Deer Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Soames Hill (Gibsons) (Sunshine Coast, moderate)
• Smuggler Cove (Sunshine Coast, easy)
• Skookumchuck Narrows (Sunshine Coast, easy)
• Mundy Park loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Colony Farm Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Pitt-Addington Marsh dikes (Grant Narrows) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Kanaka Creek: Cliff Falls (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Derby Reach and Edgewater Bar (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Campbell Valley: Little River Loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Tynehead Regional Park loops (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Redwood Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Boundary Bay dike (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Richmond West Dyke Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Iona Beach jetty (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Queen Elizabeth Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Camosun Bog boardwalk (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Wreck Beach Trail 6 (Metro Vancouver, moderate)
• Capilano Pacific Trail (North Shore, moderate)
• Mosquito Creek trail (North Shore, moderate)
• Fisherman's Trail (Seymour River) (North Shore, easy)
• Seymour Valley Trailway (North Shore, moderate)
• Maplewood Flats (North Shore, easy)
• Seaview Walk (North Shore, easy)
• Ambleside to Dundarave Seawalk (North Shore, easy)
• Sasamat Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Port Moody Shoreline Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Barnet Marine Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Central Park (Burnaby) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Spanish Banks to Jericho Beach (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• False Creek seawall loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Traboulay PoCo Trail (Metro Vancouver, moderate)
• Dorman Point (Bowen Island) (Metro Vancouver, moderate)
• White Rock Promenade (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Delta Nature Reserve (Burns Bog) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Deas Island Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Stanley Park: Beaver Lake (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Sea Island Dike (McDonald Beach) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Peace Arch Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Delta Watershed Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary dikes (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Mud Bay / East Delta Dike Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Whistler Valley Trail (Further afield, easy)
• Portside and Burnaby Heights trails (Metro Vancouver, easy)

See the winter-friendly list.